Over the last seven years of coaching busy professionals on the phone, one of the most common questions I hear before embarking in a new life coaching relationship is: “Where are we going to meet?” My answer is invariably: “On the phone, I call you wherever you are.” My answer raises some natural questions:
- How can my life coach help me without seeing me?
- How can I feel comfortable without seeing my life coach?
- How can we establish a trusting coaching relationship without ever meeting in person?
These same questions were going through my mind when I completed my coach training. Therefore I chose to coach my life coaching clients in person. After a few months of coaching face to face, one of my clients asked if we could meet on the phone instead. He didn’t have the time to drive across the city for his life coaching sessions. I wanted to make life coaching possible for this client and agreed to coach him on the phone. As soon as we began coaching on the phone, his results improved. I was surprised and curious. I wondered if the same could be true for my all of my life coaching clients.
I began sharing my observation with my clients and invited them to give coaching on the phone a chance. Some of my clients were reluctant but eventually all were willing to try at least one life coaching session on the phone. To my even greater surprise the same shift happened for all of my life coaching clients. Even those whose preference was for such important communication to be in person, achieved better results with coaching on the phone. The most important goal as a life coach is to help my clients achieve results. Based on these improved outcomes when using the telephone as our communication medium, I decided to only work on the phone.
The question as to why life coaching on the phone achieved better results was still on my mind. I was eager to find solid explanations. On my quest I came up with the following reasons:
- When we meet face to face with someone, we want to make a good impression, whether subconsciously or consciously. The business of wanting to look good and make a good impression takes energy . This energy is used directly towards achieving results with coaching on the phone.
- When we meet face to face we are receiving a lot of information. We take in the new environment, we read the body language of the other person, and we interpret the various visual cues we receive. All of this can become a distraction from our intended focus. When we meet on the phone, both coach and client are in their familiar environment. We naturally focus all of our energy on moving forward and achieving results.
- During the coaching process, emotions can surface and clients sometimes cry, which is a very healthy process by the way. Being on the phone when crying often feels safer for my clients as they don’t have to worry about how they look and if their make-up smears. The tears may flow allowing one to move through the emotion much easier and move on faster to regain our focus.
- Of course when I meet with you on the phone as your coach, I have less information available about you. However, the old saying “less is more” certainly applies. Having less information, I am intently focused on your voice, your words and your tone. This enables me to tune into what you are saying and how you are saying it more deeply. I receive bigger picture information that helps us clarify and address your most important goals.
Life coaching on the phone is more effective because you can:
- receive life coaching in your preferred environment (your home or office) and don’t have to spend time rushing through traffic to get to your coaching session.
- receive life coaching when you are away on business or personal travels, no need to postpone your coaching session because you are out of town.
- work with your preferred life coach no matter where he/she resides.
- continue working with your life coach when you or your coach move.
In short coaching on the phone means optimal results in the least amount of time. I work with clients all over the world, whether you are in Toronto, Vancouver, Dubai or Germany, I will coach you wherever YOU are, literally!
From the perspective of a client, I would support the comments made in the article.
When our family relocated across Canada, one of the few things that didn’t change was my relationship with my life coach (who happens to be Julia.) What a great anchor in a huge transition!
Having a phone coaching relationship has given me the opportunity to have an uninterrupted schedule of coaching despite my business travel. Even when in my hometown, I don’t have to travel to my coach’s office, so phone coaching is a greener alternative. I’ve been in many different spaces when being coached and been able to see what works best for me – for example, I’ve learned that it helps me if I have a view during coaching sessions.
Having the coach a little distanced by the phone link gives the conversation freedom to be NOT like a normal in-person relationship. It helps reduce the perceived imbalance and artificiality of a conversation where only one participant is receiving direct attention to their situation.
As an administrator in a large organization, much of my contact with colleagues is by phone, so it is a form of communication that I am comfortable with. I appreciate the way phone conversations reduce distractions related to appearance and body language. As a highly visual person, I need to minimize visual stimuli in order to focus on higher order thinking. All these factors help to make phone coaching a good fit for my personality.
I would encourage people who haven’t experienced life coaching on the phone to give it a try.
Thank you Rosie for sharing your personal experience.
Warmly,
Julia :)
I agree with the perspective that Julia has expressed in her blog post. As a client I particularly enjoy the ability to slot a coaching conversation into a busy day without having to allot time for travel as well as keeping it green by not jumping in my car and heading out. I also have noticed that coaching on the phone does allow for more focus and I was definitely one of those people who preferred (or thought she preferred) face to face meetings. I encourage you to give it a try.
Thank you, Katherine! Thank you also for sharing your initial doubts and how your experience convinced you.
I hadn’t even thought of the environmental positive side-effect. Thanks for pointing that out!
Warmly,
Julia :)
As one of Julia’s clients I am surprised at how effective coaching over the phone can be and how quickly we have formed a strong relationship. Like most people, I was a little surprised that we weren’t meeting in person however I’m now a convert. For me, the biggest benefit is that I can be coached during the day without having to spend the time travelling to and from a meeting place. Working where I do, this wouldn’t really be practical.
I also really liked the fact that we were able to meet once in person – for me this helped put a face to the voice and cemented the relationship further. Not sure this is essential but it was nice having the opportunity to meet just once face to face.
Thank you Mark for taking the time to share your personal experience! I am so glad you were open to experiencing coaching on the phone.
Warmly,
Julia :)
As a life and business coach with almost ten years of experience, I can attest to the effectiveness of telephone coaching. For me, the biggest advantage is that when we are on the phone, my clients and I bring a greater intensity of focus to our coaching interactions. Visual distractions are eliminated, and we move quickly into the rhythm of powerful conversation.
The second advantage is that I like to have my clients move around from time to time during the conversations, change their posture, tap into different energy by standing up instead of sitting down, etc. This is easy for a client to do when they are talking on the phone in a private place; not so easy to do when someone is watching (even if it’s just the coach). Telephone coaching actually creates more space for the coaching conversation!
I am in full agreement with Julia about telephone coaching, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t tried it.
Thank you, Doug for sharing your professional perspective! And YES I also agree with your point that it is much easier to access powerful information through movement and body awareness while coaching on the phone.
Warmly,
Julia :)
I was very skeptical about telephone coaching, but I decided to give it a try and I have certainly changed my tune. I especially appreciate that I can be in a totally different time zone from Julia and still manage to schedule a coaching session.
I especially appreciate that I can move around in my space, use visual aids or have my notes from former sessions around me to help me focus.
I agree with Rosie that it helps to make it less strange that the whole conversation is one-sided and about me only.
I used to think that a mix of phone and face-to-face coaching might be ideal for me but I am slowly coming to the conclusion that actually coaching by phone might be the best solution for me.
Thank you, Miriam for sharing your perspective! I am so glad that I can support you wherever you are geographically! :)
Warmly,
Julia :)
I always look forward to my coaching sessions and having it over the telephone just adds to ease and structure the coaching has added to my life. It is so much simpler to be near a telephone as compared to having to travel to an office. I feel so comfortable and enjoyed meeting with Julia the first time and from there it has just taken off.
Coaching is powerful.
Thank you, Bev!
Julia :)
As one of Julia’s new clients I find coaching over the phone very effective. It did not take much to convince me because I’ve spent 7+ years of my career in Inside Sales and understand that it is very possible to build lasting client relationships and conduct effective meetings over the phone. Reduced travel means lower costs for both parties and more time to focus on high priority activities. I also find I am more open and honest on the phone than in person which translates into better coaching results.
Like Mark above, I also really liked the fact that we were able to meet once in person – putting a face to a voice is always beneficial. However, I definitely see this as “nice to have”, not “need to have”.
Thank you, Penny for sharing your experience!
Warmly,
Julia :)
I agree that coaching over the phone makes for better sessions for me. Over the past 8 years, I have had numerous coaching sessions with a couple of different executive coaches. Some have been in person and the majority have been over the phone.
Over the phone, I find I am more focused and it seems that my coach is too. This leads to better results. That, plus the convenience and flexibilty, makes coaching sessions over the phone a continued must for me.
Chris
Thank you for sharing your positive experience with coaching on the phone, Chris!
Warmly,
Julia :)
I enjoyed reading your article, including the comments others left. I especially like the paragraph about how emotion surface during coaching session and people cry. I also like you pointed out that people are much more objective on the phone, and they are able to focus their energy on what they hear. In essence, less is more! :)
Thank you for your comment, Sophie!
Yes, you summed it up nicely: less is more!
Warmly,
Julia :)